The Chattanooga Mocs softball team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn't score the tying run, as they fell 4-3 to Villanova on Sunday afternoon in Clearwater.
Following the loss, Chattanooga snaps their three-game win streak and drops to 11-14 overall. Villanova improved to 6-9 on the season.
Allison Swinford (4-4) tossed a complete game but suffered the loss in the circle. Swinford threw all seven innings and allowed ten hits while surrendering only three earned runs.
She kept the Wildcats scoreless through 5.2 innings before an unearned run crossed the plate.
Chattanooga registered nine hits including four of them going for extra-bases. All three runs were scored in the final frame for the Mocs. Hayleigh Weissenbach doubled in a run before J.J. Hamill followed that up with a two-run homerun to left center.
Villanova scored the game's first run in the top of the sixth after a Mocs fielding error in the middle infield allowed the runner from second to score. The Wildcats would cushion their lead in the top of the seventh with three runs and were helped out by a two-run homerun to give them a 4-0 lead.
Alyssa Coppinger began the final inning with a single to right field before a ground-out allowed her to advance to second. Weissenbach laced a double to the right-center gap, scoring Coppinger, and putting the Mocs first run on the board.
Trailing 3-1 with one out, Hamill followed up Weissenbach with a two-run homerun on a 3-1 count to pull UTC within a single run, 4-3. They couldn't put together a second rally as a pair of groundouts ended the game.
Weissenbach (2-for-4), Hamill (2-for-4) and Brook Womack (2-for-3) all recorded doubles while Hamill belted a homerun in addition. Hamill finished with two RBI while Weissenbach added one. Devan Brown and Coppinger each ended 1-for-3 while Amy Lewis added a 1-for-1 performance.
Chattanooga returns to the field on Thursday with a matchup against Maine at 10 a.m. in Clearwater, Fla. Live stats will be available and can be found on the schedule page.